


Where it’s Quiet

by Echovous



Series: Making It Work AU [1]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Exploitation, Gen, Non-Sexual Slavery, Short One Shot, Slavery, Telepathy, Transformer Sparklings, orphan Soundwave
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-16 14:44:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21037910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Echovous/pseuds/Echovous
Summary: Soundwave liked the mines. He liked the quiet. This far underground, this far from the overpopulated streets of Kaon, the hundreds of thousands of voices in his processor faded into the distant roar of machinery.





	Where it’s Quiet

**Author's Note:**

> This fic takes place when Soundwave’s still a sparkling, so he may be a little bit OOC...
> 
> He hadn’t yet learned how to cut off his telepathic abilities, so when he picks up on a thought, ~It’s written like this.~

Soundwave liked the mines. He liked the quiet. This far underground, this far from the overpopulated streets of Kaon, the hundreds of thousands of voices in his head faded into the distant roar of machinery. Down here, he could reclaim his processor as his own. He could think his own thoughts. He could function. But first, he needed to rescan the security monitors. 

Soundwave shifted in the massive seat before the even larger desk. He had to kneel, sitting on the back of his pedes, to see the bright screens. Yet, he still couldn’t get the lower row of screens into view. Soundwave reached up with slim digits to grab the edge of the desk and pulled himself so that his chin rose above the flat surface. With the elevated position, he still had to crane his helm to see the screens. 

~Pointless. This is all a pointless waste of time. He’s only here because he has to do this.~

Soundwave winced as the sudden, irritable thought pushed its way into his processor. Much like a pin prick, the initial pain was sharp and a faint ache remained. 

~Why does Kaon even bother sending these safety inspectors anymore. This is a fragging mine. Bots get hurt.~

Soundwave clenched his denta and tightened his grip on the desk. 

A different voice pierced his processor. ~Another floor of this scrap.~

Focus, focus, focus. Soundwave vented heavily. He returned his optics to the security screens. He needed to find something to look at, something to turn his attention to. It always helped when he was occupied, especially up above the mines with the thousands of voices booming in his helm. If he couldn’t focus, there would be no way for him to survive. He’d be reduced to a screaming, kicking sparkling, banging his helm against the floor until he knocked himself into stasis. 

Soundwave searched his processor for a distraction only to be interrupted by the two mechs’ voices increasing in volume. They were nearing. He could already feel their fields, heavy with annoyance. 

Soundwave spun around in the seat. He leaned against the armrest to peek around the back at the door. He listened to the voices of the mechs, both perceptible now. 

“Everything looking okay so far, inspector?” The voice laughed. “Guess it depends on my definition of the word.”

“It actually depends on the government’s definition of the word,” the inspector retorted. ~This place is a mess.~ 

The door to the security room clicked open and transformed away. Dim light from the hallway illuminated the darkened room Soundwave sat in and he blinked to adjust his optics. He opened them again to see two silhouettes enter. 

“Now I just need to see the upper operations floor, starting with this room, I’ll ne—“ the voice immediately cut off. 

Soundwave flinched. The booming in his helm only got worse when mechs stopped talking and started thinking. Immediately, the inspector’s thoughts and sensory input flooded into his processor. Noise, noise, noise.

“There’s a sparkling in here,” a repulsive feeling pulsed from the inspector’s field. 

“Oh. He’s with me,” the overseer squeezed in next to him.

~With you? Like scrap.~ The inspector thought, turning to face the overseer. 

“Couldn’t leave the little guy at home, so I brought him with me.” he spoke nonchalantly, but Soundwave could see past the facade. ~Scrap! Forgot he was in here... Should’ve told the little fragger to go down to the canteen. This is gonna be a lot of explaining.~

Soundwave gritted his denta against all the input booming in his processor—much like a Seeker’s claws on plating. Couldn’t the adults just leave and take their overwhelming sensory output with them? The thoughts and feelings overran him like a swarm of Scraplets. It was impossible to fight. Or block. He didn’t know how, and his caregiver wasn’t the kind of mech to help him.

“This could qualify as sparkling labor on top of sparkling endangerment, you do know that?” The inspector said. “There’s high power equipment here that could tear his teeny spark out if you loose track of him.”

A flash of bright red annoyance in the overseer’s field. “Come on, he’s nowhere near the equipment. I’m keeping him occupied in this room.”

“Yeah. Monitoring the security footage,” the inspector commented with a glare. “Is he doing that for fun or are you making him?” He raised a clawed digit to his data pad. 

“Hey, wait.” The overseer grabbed the inspector’s wrist strut before he could write anything. 

The inspector sighed. “Dredge... I can’t do this every time.”

“Please,” the overseer pleaded. He glanced at Soundwave. “Look at him. He’s fine. But he won’t be fine if you get his caregiver fired, or worse: locked up.”

The inspector met Soundwave’s optics. The grown mech frowned. ~Uh... Of course he played the single sire card. Of course! Just make me the bad mech!~

~Can’t get a strike for something as little as this...~ The overseer kept his optics on the inspector. 

The inspector met his gaze. “Where’d you even find the poor thing? He’s not yours is he?”

“No! Definitely not!” Sire nearly jumped. 

“Then who’s is he?”

“Some slaves. I don’t know. They’re gone now,” he stammered. 

“Gone?” The inspector raised an optical ridge.

“Some mining accident. They were offlined. He was left behind. I didn’t know what to do.”

“Why is he living in your home?” The inspector asked, scrolling through his datapad. “The slave quarters are suitable enough to house him.”

“He’s just a sparkling,” Sire growled. “He shouldn’t be down there.” 

The inspector sighed. “I understand. But rules are rules.” The mech’s eyes fell on Soundwave and he began to think. 

~Sparkling or not, he’s a slave. He belongs with the other slaves. That’s just how society works.~ The inspector paused. ~Aw, but he’s so little...~ He glanced at the overseer with a scowl. “I’ll let this obvious exploitation slide. But only because you’re doing such a good job keeping him occupied.”

Sire smirked, dipping his head. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” the inspector’s scowl deepened. “You still have to show me the rest of the level. Let’s get started.”

Soundwave watched the two mechs leave and the door transform closed behind them. Even out of sight, he could feel their fields, feel the boredom in the inspector’s field and the relief in his sire’s. When he could no longer sense their fields, he could still pick up their thoughts in their processors. Their thoughts eventually faded too, leaving Soundwave in silence. 

Soundwave sighed, leaning back against the chair. He closed his optics, enjoying the emptiness. Not a single voice penetrated his processor. He could think his own thoughts. He could hear himself...

Something pinged on one of the screens behind him. 

Soundwave opened his optics and spun back around. He lifted his servos, sliding his slim digits across the surface of the desk, pulling himself closer to the screens. 

He had a job to do down here or Sire would let him stay in the mines where it’s quiet.


End file.
